Poulan chainsaw chain jumps off frequently

granpa49

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I've owned two Poulan chainsaws over the past 30 years and have had good results with them. My son bought a Poulan model PP4812AVX last year and the chain jumps off at least twice for every tank of gas that you run through. The saw hasn't got hardly any hours on it so the blade has to either be a dud or a bad design and, yes, we've kept the bar oil reservoir full and it is oiling. I've wondered if changing the blade would help. The OEM blade was made by Oregon. The Oregon replacement blade (combo pack) is a PN39272. If the replacement blade is no better than the OEM blade I won't be accomplishing anything by changing the blade. Any experience with this?
 

cpurvis

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Chain too loose?

Bar bent?

Clutch sprocket damaged?
 

ILENGINE

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I am assuming you are talking about the PP4218AVX. For some reason 18 inch bars seem to have the most problem with chain flip offs. The main issue is the new bars are narrow top to bottom to make the safety chain work correctly. The problem is that allows for flex and twisting in the bar. So pushing too hard to cut, or pushing down or pulling up on the saw while felling will cause lateral movement in the bar, and since the chain can't follow the curve created, throws the chain off.

Inspect the chain carefully since throwing the chain off tends to damage the drive links on the chain leading to further issue of thrown chain.
 

granpa49

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This is a new saw. My son bought it for clearing shooting lanes. The first time he used it he brought it back with the chain off and left it in the carport where it sat for six months without being touched. The primer button split on my saw and I'm a half hour from the nearest store so I put the chain back on his and tried using it. The chain has jumped off four or five times with me using it. His saw has had a total of three tanks of gas run thru it. I'm sure you can damage something in that length of time but I am suspicious that it is a design issue. I just bought a new Oregon combo pack with bar and chain (39272). Next time I'm out with it I'll see how it goes.

Understand, I'm not meaning to bash Poulan saws. My first one lasted 20 years and I have 10 years so far on my second one and it is still going strong. I replaced the primer button and fuel lines last weekend and it is up and going again. I just think they might have an issue with this newest bar and/or chain, even though the OEM bar is made by Oregon.
 

ILENGINE

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The sprocket will hammer the back of the drive links when the chain comes off. Normally it will not fit in the groove of the bar when you put it back on. This will happen every time the chain comes off. I was having customer issues with a new saw made by an different manufacturer last summer because the chain came off. I could lay the tip of the bar on a stick of wood, and hold the rear handle with 1 finger, and the bar would flex over 1 inch from straight just from the weight of the saw.

Now imagine somebody putting a side load on that and it will flip the chain every time.
 

bertsmobile1

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If it has a rim sprocket that will also be damaged by the chain jumping off.
AS per previous post, toss the chain and if it was my hands that close to a chain running at 40mph the sprocket would be changed as well as the chain & I would seriously be thinking about tossing the bar as well.
Then again I enjoy having a beer in one hand and peanuts in the other.
 

granpa49

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I bought a new Oregon bar and chain combo. I'll see what happens next time out. The OEM bar and chain design on the Poulan must be new due to the fact that my previous Poulan saws didn't exhibit this problem. Oregon made the Poulan bar. I can't help but wonder if Oregon saw owners are having the same problem.
 

ILENGINE

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Some of the new Oregon bars have a aluminum core to reduce weight. There are also laminated bars with hollow cores. To make the anti kickback feature work corectly you have to have a small radius nose bar for the bumper to kick out further than the cutter to prevent cutter engagement into the wood. This makes for a narrow top to bottom bar, and coupled with the lighter materials in some cases makes for some flexible bars.

The problem is the what you are seeing is not consistent across all users because what you do to kick the chain off, the next person may not. My dad owned a McCulloch 4900 years ago, and couldn't keep the chain on it either. I could run the saw all day long and never through the chain. The saw that I was discussing in an earlier post was a Remington chainsaw. The funny thing is some of the parts look identical to the old McCulloch 4900
 

granpa49

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The thing is that I'm running a ten year old Poulan with an intenz bar alongside the new Poulan and believe it or not there is a difference. The chain jumps off of the new one frequently in the same type of service. I haven't been back out since I installed the new bar and chain and I'm really interested in seeing if it makes a difference.
 

bertsmobile1

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The thing is that I'm running a ten year old Poulan with an intenz bar alongside the new Poulan and believe it or not there is a difference. The chain jumps off of the new one frequently in the same type of service. I haven't been back out since I installed the new bar and chain and I'm really interested in seeing if it makes a difference.

The 10 year old Poulan was made by Poulan when Poulan made good quality residential chain saws.
Poulan is now made by Husqvarna and they are now poor quality bottom end chainsaw to compete with Ryobi & Homelite.
It also makes Husqvarna saws look a lot better although the quality of all domestic Husky saws is now piss poor.
To date I have replaced the barrels on 5 because of flaking chrome plating on the bore.
All in around the same place
All less than 2 years old
All had been back to the shop for a warranty repair because they would not start
All bodged up so they started for a while, but once to molly wore out of the holes they would not start again.
 
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